Hey there Brawlers! Are you all ready for another Wild West event?
That's right! This Sunday (May 21st), myself and 2 other staff members will be holding down the Poppy Cartel, defending it from all of you bandits! Now although there will only be 3 of us camping, don't think that taking us down will be a simple task, as we will be heavily geared out with full sets of Protection III, Unbreaking III diamond armor, sheriff guns, and a large arsenal of Potions to keep us alive!

Hidden in, and around the house we decide to hide in, there'll be chests full of drugs, and expensive gems!
Also, us drug smugglers will have some very valuable items on us if you manage to kill us, including gold, diamond armor, and powerful illegal weapons.
On top of all this, whoever manages to kill me, will receive a hefty 100,000 gold!

Oh, also for those of you that stick around until after the event, there will be a SUPER RARE set of chain armor, enchanted with protection I dropped!

Information:

There will only be one standoff (round) for this event. Once I and my drug smuggling associates are killed, the event will be over, and victors announced.

Only one player will be able to earn the 100,000 gold grand prize.

Logging out in the base prior to the event starting, will result in a disqualification and a jailing.

Sheriffs will not be allowed to participate in this event, however, for those of you that are sheriff and want to join in on the fun, I can temporarily remove your sheriff rank, and return it to you when the event is over.

With them, you can customize your username with one of 45 different, unique tags: Become a Hellraiser, General or a Queen! Your selected tag is shown in front of your name in chat in a bold font with a tag specific color.

To celebrate the release, we are doing a 15% off sale exclusively for tags!
The sale ends on Sunday, May 21st at 11:59 PM EST.​

As you all know, the KitBrawl Soup 1v1 Event was hosted last weekend, on Saturday and Sunday, with a very successful turnout. After many very close matches that often came down to the difference of one or two soups, we were left with the two people that would fight in the finals, @Carsonn and @YouAreBestBae (Removers).
Removers managed to edge out Carsonn, 2-0 in the best of 3 finale, but not by much. In the second fight Removers was left with no soup left after killing Carsonn!

Regardless of the results though, I had a ton of fun playing and hosting this competition, and I really hope you all did too. Hopefully another tournament is something we can host in the near future if that's what you guys want.

Congratulations again to Removers. He and the people listed below will receive the following ranks for placing in the tournament!

However, some of the winners were very generous, and decided to pass the ranks they won on to others.

@LeUniCow Will receive a month of Global Elite, courtesy of Removers!@Versions Will receive a month of Global VIP, courtesy of GoToBed!@YouAreBestBae (Removers) Will receive a week of Global VIP, courtesy of UraniumHG!@NLSxM3RK Will receive a (second) week of Global VIP, courtesy of PingWoo!

Congratulations to the winners and Thank you for your submissions! Some of these trickshots are some of the best we have seen, keep it up! Don't worry, this is not the final top 10 kill event! We are going to host more of these in the future. Remember that we are always open for suggestions - as we want to provide you with remarkable events to make the most out of your time on Brawl.

Hey all! It’s time for the Spring Build Contest results. We had some awesome builds this time around, but only 3 can win…

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So to kick things off, in third place is @BestBillyBB with his creation, Springtime! Billy’s gone all in with the terraforming in this lobby-styled build, and it looks great. He’s done a fantastic job on the giant custom tree in the centre, and all the little decorations – especially the custom text and the Easter egg hunt – make for a colourful and atmospheric map.

Billy wins $10 to spend in the Brawl store and 1 free map. We can’t wait to see what he comes up with next!

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In second placeis @Dwarfiest, @Lekosa1 and @Eil with their egg-cellent (haha) Easter Village! A lot of creativity went into this map, and it’s paid off. The egg houses are a lot of fun but I’m also a big fan of the adventurous, varied flowers decorating the sides. I’m a sucker for secrets, though, and the Alice-in-Wonderland themed room down the rabbit hole is an awesome little Easter egg.

The team wins $15 and 2 free maps to split amongst themselves. Congrats!

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And in first place is… drumroll please… @Fordale with her amazing Forbidden Stag! Fordale’s no stranger to build contests, having already won Builder of the Month in January and placing in both of the previous contests. This month, she’s built a beautiful new organic creation with major spring vibes.

The stag alone is an awesome concept and is executed perfectly – not many of us can say that we can build anything like it. But the trees also look effortless, which is very impressive considering how difficult they can be to make, and the flowers round off the whole piece.

What did you think of the contest? Any suggestions or feedback for the future? Let us know down below!

Remember that even if you didn't win, you've still got a chance at winning the Builder of the Month award every single month! (duh) Just head over to Build Showcases and submit your map, and you'll automatically be entered into the running. More info (including prizes) here.

Click to expand...

Prize Changes
New changes are coming to our prize system! These changes are listed below.

Rule Breaker Report Champions & Top Voters

The value of the prize coupons will be changed to $5 (3rd), $10 (2nd), and $15 (1st) beginning next month.

Money from these coupons can no longer be transferred from account to account.

If there are more than 3 total winners, then the tied winners will receive the same prize. However, beginning next month a place will be removed in this event.

Example: If 2 people win first, third place is removed.

Example: If 3 people win first, second & third place are removed.

Example: If 3 people win second, first place is kept, but third place is removed.

Example: If 8 people win third, no places are removed.

IMPORTANT: If you glitch to earn more than the maximum votes that the month permits, you will forfeit your prize.

Builder of the Month

Beginning next month, the prize for builder of the month will be changed to 1 map instead of 3.

Featured Brawler
In this month's issue, we bring you someone from the lands of Raid. From one of our finest servers comes some of our finest players. Of those players, there is one who stands out. This guy is funny, chill, brilliant, and a truly great teammate. His helpfulness on the forums and in-game makes him a perfect candidate for this month's featured brawler! Who could this be? It's @Speedcell of course! Give this guy some congrats!

Trivia QuestionLast month's question was: Which Brawler or Brawlers have the most forums trophies?
The answer was Eil, MattM1PVP and Wario. @Lekosa1 answered it first and earned a forums trophy!

This month's question is: Who is the creator of a CTF map set deep in space atop a golden spaceship?
The answer will be revealed along with the winner in the next edition of The Brawl News.

Group Advertisement
This month's featured group consists of some of the friendliest players on Raid. These awesome people have also played a crucial role in building the grandest city on this map of Raid. Filled with skilled builders, great PvPers, and many more unique characters, this team is none other than Team Mel0n! Check out their team thread here.

Marksman 2: Chapter 6
Forenote: Don’t bother trying to translate any of the foreign language used in this chapter, as I had to use Google Translate, which means it is not accurate.

Marksman 2: Chapter 6: Assault

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Soulless looked out the window of the helicopter. The Siberian wilderness was stretched before him. Scores of snow capped peaks, icy forests, and tundra stretched before him. Temperatures easily dropped below zero at this time of the year. Next to Soulless sat a backpack and a pair of rifles.

He was dressed in white camouflage. A heavy winter coat under a tactical vest. Snowpants matched that with a set of arctic survivalist thermal boots. He had thermal gear under it all.

He was being inserted by helicopter into the Siberian wilderness. Independent Arms International was overstepping their game and intruding on Russian soil. The Russian government wanted a show of surgical force, so they offered the job to Mendosa. Mendosa accepted, and here he was.

Soulless felt the helicopter begin to descend. He checked that his headset for the helicopter was on, and as he did, heard a quick bit of static.

“We're setting you down here. IAI forces are going to be moving through the valley here within the next week. Is your mission clear to you?"

“I'm good to go." Soulless told the pilot. “Just set me down wherever."

“Touching down in thirty seconds."

The helicopter kept descending, and the side of a mountain began to grow larger and larger to Soulless.

“Mountain fine to you?" The pilot of the helicopter asked.

“Perfect." It was densely wooded, and that was what Soulless needed if he wanted to operate alone up here. And he did. The helicopter found a small clearing and started to descend again.

Soon the helicopter hovered. Soulless slung his Remington MSR onto his back, and hooked the backpack on over it. He then grabbed his Colt M4A4 and, signaling ready to the aircrew member in the cabin of the helicopter, who promptly slid open the sliding door on the helicopter, he hopped out into the snow.

The downdraft from the helicopter's rotors battered him with wind and snow. Though, as soon as he was out of the cabin, the helo rose and took off, leaving Soulless.

The sky was gray and it was snowing slowly slightly on the mountainside, but Soulless wasn't cold yet. The wind would start to pick up soon, which meant he had to find a shoulder.

Clambering a round on his M4A4, he set out to find his home for the night.

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Seoul, South Korea.

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The rear of the modified Humvee assault vehicle was hot and thick with anticipation.

The Humvee was like a large van, modified so that a squad or two could fit into the back, while still allowing a pair of drivers and a gunner to ride up front.

Titanium checked his M4A4. Dropping the magazine, he checked that the extended 40 round magazine was loaded, and slid it back into the rifle. Check. Holographic sight. Check. Infrared laser. Check. Foregrip. Check.

He let the rifle lean against his knee, stock on the floor, yanking his Glock 19 out of its thigh holster. Magazine. Check. Night sights. Check. He slid it back.

The truck hit a bump on the road. Evil rolled his head in a circle, causing the cartilage in his neck to click and pop. Rock looked down at the floor, the top his helmet resting on his hands, which were interlaced. Dark was balancing his M249 SAW on his legs. There was a Special Forces mechanized infantryman in the rear with them acting as their link to the drivers of the assault vehicle.

There was silence in the Humvee except for the low hum of the engine and the clinking of ammunition, weapons, and people. Omega squad were each silently brooding their own outcomes of the up and coming assault.

Omega was being inserted with other Special Forces teams to lay the groundwork for an assault on North Korea itself.

The vehicle hit a bump again, then stopped. There was a pause, then the infantryman yelled, “Everyone out!"

Evil pushed open the rear door of the truck and shouldered his SASS rifle. Titanium stood, joints clicking, and exited the vehicle, rifle raised. He did a quick sweep of the surrounding landscape.

The area around the Demilitarization Zone was surprisingly beautiful. The hill they were on had a few trees, and a meadow.

The only thing that offset the pretty view were the U.S assault vehicles, soldiers packing M4s and Glocks, and the razor wire fence blocking access to the DMZ.

Titanium lowered his rifle. “Nice day for a walk."

“Or an assault in enemy territory." Rock commented. He was the last person out of the truck. Evil was climbing on top of the vehicle where he could set up his bipod and look out over the fence. Glancing around him, Titanium could see the snipers from other squads doing the same.

This was a twelve vehicle convoy that was getting ready to assault the DMZ in the final battle for it. The trucks were outfitted with .50 caliber machine guns, or, as it was generally referred to, the ’Ma Deuce.' On top of that, some of the Humvees had MK39 automatic grenade launchers.

Least to say, they were the first wave.

“Just waiting for the order to move." Evil called down. Rock kicked at some of the gravel coating the road that wound over the hill, and then leaned on the hood of the Humvee. Titanium and Dark were standing security.

All they could do was wait for orders now.

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Evil relaxed in his kneeling position on top of the Humvee. His bipod was set so that the barrel of his SASS (Semi Automatic Sniper System) rifle wouldn't interfere with the movements of the Humvee gunner operating the .50 cal machine gun.

The engine of the Humvee was off, so the vibrations wouldn't interfere with his aim. Evil was scanning down into the DMZ with his rifle scope. There was mostly valley in this section, and a few trees. He checked a short outcropping of rocks and then clicked on his radio. “Omega 2-1 to command, no motion."

Evil heard the voice of one of the 1st Sergeants over the radio. “Copy Omega 2-1. Eyes peeled."

Evil clicked his radio in response and kept watching the DMZ. The grass was swaying in the wind softly.

There was no real active situation going on besides the wait. The gunners on the vehicles were leaning against their mounted weapons, chatting with the their squadmates. The twelve Humvees had been carrying enough soldiers for a full platoon, twelve squads in each. Not counting the Humvee crews.

Something shifted out in the field, and Evil moved his scope over to it. He could see nothing, but he grabbed his comm. “Omega 2-1 calling in movement, two hundred meters to the northeast. Can anyone confirm?"

One of the other snipers responded. ”Foxtrot 2-3, confirming movement, two hundred meters east."

Evil kept watching. Gunners were manning their guns, and infantry were grabbing their rifles, moving to cover down into the DMZ. The road was on the inside, and a razor wire fence blocked any escape for the convoy.

Then, Evil saw the motion again. There was a soldier dressed in camouflage gear crawling up with an old Vietnam-era M60. “Spotted one contact, two hundred meters, armed."

If he was given clearance to take the shot, he would have to be careful. He had no suppressor on his rifle, and there were surely more guys than just this one.

“Weapons free 2-1."

Evil elevated his crosshairs a little bit and took the shot.

The shot flew true, taking the man through the head. There was a few moments of silence as Evil reported in. “Hit. Target down."

Then, rounds began to come in. “Taking fire!" One of the infantry guys yelled. There was a pounding as the .50 cal on Evil's truck began to open up, and the firefight began.

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Titanium heard the first round skip off the hood of the Humvee, and dropped to prone. Someone yelled “Taking fire!" and the .50 cal on Omega's truck started to fire.

Titanium crawled across the dusty road to the edge. It was lines heavily with bushes and grass. He slid into a hedge and flicked his M4A4 over to single fire. Then, he cycled the bolt on his rifle, and began looking for targets.

He saw a string of muzzle flashes and began squeezing rounds towards the source. He paused every few seconds to look.

Soon the firefight was in full swing. The amount of gunfire was incredible. MK39 grenade launchers were firing, pounding the line of field that the fire was coming from.

Next to Titanium, Dark had crawled forward with his M249, and began firing streams of bullets towards sources of fire.

”Machine gun, two hundred fifty meters!" Came the call.

The clamor of battle continued, and someone called “MG down!"

“Watch your heads. Apollo 2-6 beginning fire mission."

A long ways back at the edge of the DMZ, artillery trucks had set up to cover the convoy. One of the snipers had been doing his job correctly, and called in the coordinates to command, who then relayed the fire mission to the artillery position.

There was a howling like the air had begun to move quickly, then, the field began to explode in plumes of dirt, smoke, and fire. Someone gave the cease fire command, and the gunfire stopped.

The fire returning from the field had ceased. There was no sound except for the movement of Special Forces infantry reloading their weapons.

“Alpha, Bravo, and Omega, advance to the hostile firing position. Check for survivors." The convoy's 1st Sergeant called over the comm.

“Cmon." Dark muttered to Titanium. Titanium nodded, and stood, checking his magazine. He had twenty three rounds remaining, so he swapped it. Flicking it to full auto, Titanium advanced slowly away from the road and to the open areas. Further up the road, two more squads, three from each, were advancing the same way.

Special Forces squads and teams were arranged so that there was one person with a light or heavy machine gun, a sniper, and at most two infantrymen.

There was no immediate explosion of gunfire as the three Special Forces squads pushed their way out of the bushes and grass. There was still a cloud of dust and smoke from the artillery strike.

After a few minutes of slow moving the squads had reached the artillery-stricken area. Titanium kept his finger on the trigger of his M4. There were bodies lying left and right, torn apart by the artillery strike.

One of the Alpha squad guys kneeled down to check a body as the group entered the strike area. He came up with his rifle hanging across his chest. He was holding the killed soldier's rifle. “You ever seen an AK built like this?" He asked Titanium.

The AK had a plastic stock, and an EOTech holographic sight mounted on a tac rail on the handguard. A tactical flashlight clipped to the left side, and a laser sight on the right. “Century Arms AK-47, yeah. Probably modified for full auto judging by the look."

The Alpha handed Titanium the AK. “Chambered in .556 too."

Titanium checked the mag. “Yeah." It was loaded with ammunition. “I'll take it back so we can get a serial number check. Find out who bought it."

After surveying the firing positions, there was clearly no survivors of the artillery strike. If there were, they had run. The squads found multiple magazines belonging to G36C carbines, as well as 7.62x45 rounds from Soviet AK-47s. A quick check turned up .556 casings, 7.62, a couple of Soviet-era Kalashnikov rifles.

As the squads made their way back to the convoy, Titanium examined the AK-47 carefully. The .556 NATO round was lighter and had less recoil than the Russian 7.62x45 round, but it sacrificed stopping power. The AK Titanium was examining was chambered for .556, and a full auto stream would be easier to sustain with the Century Arms version Titanium held than a Soviet-era surplus rifle off the market.

It definitely meant the Koreans were stepping up their game.

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Soulless tread softly and slowly up the slope of the mountain. There was a slight lack of oxygen this high up, but the vantage point to look down into the valley would be well worth it.

He adjusted how the MSR was resting between his back and backpack. The bolt had been digging into his back slightly, and now it stopped. Reaching onto the rifle, he checked that the infrared laser mounted on a tactical rail hadn't been knocked loose, the bipod was still in place, and the suppressor screwed tightly to the barrel. Everything was in order.

Shouldering his M4A4, he continued.

It had been a while since Soulless had done an extended arctic operation. Aside from the odd mission before he had been recruited to Mendosa, this was the first in a while. Having grown up in Alaska, he was glad to put at least something he had suffered through during his childhood to use.

Ahead of Soulless, a little higher on the slope, was a cave. Soulless sighed in relief. It was sufficiently elevated enough to use as a vantage point.

He reached the cave entrance and swept it with his M4. There was nothing inside as far as Soulless could see, which was all the way through until a bend in the cave. It reminded him somewhat of the cave he, Evil, and Dark had been using as a Special Forces team in Afghanistan. Back when he had learned about IAI, and through them, Spectre Division.

Advancing forward, Soulless kept moving. He activated the tactical flashlight on his M4 and checked every inch of cave wall, floor, and ceiling.

The cave was full of stalagmites soaked with water that shone as Soulless filled the top of the cave with his M4A4’s flashlight. His foot scuffed a rock, and the sound of it clattering down the rock tunnel echoed loudly.

Soulless pressed on.

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Evil walked alongside the convoy, his SASS rifle held across his chest, Titanium walked behind him, M4 ready. Rock and Dark were walking on the other side of the convoy, eyes out for IEDs and ambush positions.

The convoy had reached their objective.

Pyongyang loomed up in the distance. Buildings with countless glass windows reflected the late day sun off towards the convoy. There was a pause of static then a “Convoy, halt.” command over the net. The Humvees rolled to a stop, and the Special Forces soldiers took up security positions around the vehicles.

Evil chambered one of the 7.62x45 NATO rounds into his SASS and began scanning the outskirts of the city with his rifle scope.

There were soldiers fortifying their positions with sandbags, concrete, and heavy weapons. Ammunition was being trafficked to them from the city. Troops were drilling, and an officer in a uniform oversaw the preparations.

Evil took a prone position and deployed the bipod. The convoy was in a good position to avoid being spotted, but eventually they would be noticed and need a better spot to protect themselves. Evil keyed his mic. “Command this is Omega 2-1, I have a Korean officer overseeing drilling and preparations for their defense, please advise.”

“Omega 2-1, if you have a shot, take it.”

“Copy command, stand by for shot.”

Evil breathed in, steadying the rifle, and his body slowed down. There was only him, his rifle, and the target. He thumbed the safety and it clicked into the firing position.

Through his scope, the officer pointed to the positions and made a hand motion. A subordinate came up to him and spoke rapidly. The officer shouted at him and backhanded the subordinate across the face. The enlisted soldier fell, his rifle clattering to the dirt.

Breathe in. Evil adjusted his grip on the rifle as the officer shouted more.

Breathe out. He fingered the trigger.

Breathe in. He tightened his pull on the trigger until all the slack in the trigger was gone and he could break the shot.

Breathe out. He broke the shot.

The round struck the officer center mass. He pitched backward and fell on his back, a pool of blood rapidly spreading from his rib cage. The subordinate scrambled to his feet, grabbing his rifle, Kalashnikov, and turned looking for Evil’s position. Evil broke another shot, and the soldier dropped his rifle, his hands immediately going to his throat. He sank to his knees and fell forward, not moving.

An alarm went off and soldiers began to move around the Pyongyang city limits. Soldiers began to man the machine gun positions, loading ammunition while preparing to defend the city. The U.S soldiers began to move in response to the North Korean defenders. Infantry with M4A4 rifles and light machine guns, a mix of M240 Bravos, M249 Squad Automatic Weapons began to move to cover and set up to lay down fire.

Evil checked the magazine on his M110 SASS. Only missing two rounds from the magazine of 7.62, he had enough shots. The suppressor on his rifle hadn’t cost him his position, so he could continue to lay down precision fire with his SASS. Around him, people were taking prone positions, locking and loading weapons.

Rock checked his M4’s magazine, squeezing the foregrip of the weapon to reassure himself. He had been a pilot before joining Omega as an infantry specialist. He had never participated in a full-scale ground assault like this one before. It would definitely be a game changer from the small scale operations and missions he had been a part of as an Omega. He shook his head. Couldn’t be thinking about the past now, He had to focus on the here and now. He pulled back the bolt on his M4 a little ways to verify there was a round chambered, checked his Glock 19, pair of frag grenades and smoke grenade, then dropped to prone next to Evil.

“Nice day for a firefight, eh?” Rock said to him.

“Wish we weren’t exposed to artillery here.” Evil muttered, his cheek against the stock of his SASS.

“Dark setting his M249 up with the other LMGs to spray the Korean machine gun positions. They’re digging in for a fight.”

Evil sighed and flicked off the safety on his SASS. “It would be rude to refuse them one.”

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Soulless leaned his M4A4 up against the cave wall and set his backpack down. He then unstrapped his MSR and set it next to the M4. Off his backpack he removed an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat ration pack) and tore it open, removing the protein bar from it and tearing it open. He set the main meal off to the side and grabbed the tough plastic bag everything had been wrapped in. He could use that to grab snow for water to drink. He had a canteen full, but he had to preserve what was in it. He also had a couple spare MREs, extra ammunition, some fire starting kit, a heater, and a sleeping bag.

Long story short, he was set up to camp out for a while.

He rolled out his sleeping bag and sat down on it, and started up the small heater. He had to connect the small propane tank and open the valve. He then struck his flint and steel piece next to the heating pad and the heater began to emit warm air with some light, but not an excessive amount.

It was dim in the cave, but Soulless could see in what was generated by the heater. He grabbed his M4 off the wall and removed the magazine. He slowly locked back the bolt and caught the round that was ejected from the chamber as he did so. He inspected the round, and checked that the casing was intact. The green ring around the tip of the bullet looked almost black.

The rounds Soulless used for his M4s and AR-15s were color coded. No color meant a full metal jacket, regular softcore round. Green was steel core for a little extra punch. Red was tracer.

He wiped the round down and clicked it into the magazine. He set it off to the side and picked up the rifle, clicking the button on the side that released the upper and lower sections of the rifle from each other. They were now connected by a small pin that let the barrel swing like a hinge. He pushed the pin out and dropped it into his jacket pocket. He slid the barrel and handguard away from the firing assembly. Picking the barrel section up, he held it in both hands and looked at the heater pad generating a little light through the barrel, using the color to spot and debris or copper buildup in the barrel. The rifling was clean. He double checked that the tactical flashlight mounted on the left side, the infrared laser on the right, and the laser scope worked. Everything functioned correctly.

Unscrewing the suppressor from the barrel, Soulless did the same thing with that as he had done with the barrel, looking at the heater through the bore of the suppressor. The suppressor was fine, but there could very well be debris collecting in the baffles used to capture the gases that expand outwards when the round is fired.

Other than that the suppressor seemed fine. He screwed it back onto the end of the barrel, and set the upper section off to the side, moving on to the lower area. The pistol grip, firing pin, and stock. Soulless inspected the stock, and checked that it could slide freely when needed, and then checked that it was slid to four clicks. It was set.

He inspected the firing pin and grimaced. The pin was covered in buildup from the detonating primer charge on a bullet. He retrieved a clean rag from his backpack, and wiped down the firing pin. The metal section on the field stripped section was cleaner than it was originally, the rag having picked up some of the grime.

Swiftly putting the rifle back together, he set it off to the side, and checked his Glock 19. Drop magazine, and cycled the slide, sending the loaded round spiraling into the air. Soulless snatched it out of the air and pocketed it.

He pulled the trigger to dry-fire the handgun, hearing the firing pin click forward. Then, grabbing the slide and pulling back slightly with his right hand, he gripped a pair of switches set into both sides of the gun and pulled down while pushing the slide forward. The slide, sights, barrel, and recoil spring all slid free of the handgun.

Inspecting the trigger parts, he dabbed at it with the rag, wiping away some of the buildup. The Glock series of handguns was built to last, but still needed some cleaning and maintenance to make the pistol cycle correctly, and prevent jams.

Soulless tore open a packet of gun lubrication and spread it on the slide rails, and then paused.

Something had moved in the tunnel.

Soulless reached for his M4 but it was too late. Something was rolled across the cave floor, and the flashbang sent Soulless rolling across the floor away from the cave entrance.

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The first target Evil singled out was a North Korean preparing a machine gun. He fired, and the machine gunner fell backwards like a wooden plank. He then singled out one of the soldiers loading ammunition into the mounted machine gun.

Dark began firing bursts with the M249, and gunfire began to pick up. There was whistling as bullets began to tear through the air from the Korean firing positions. Evil selected a soldier preparing a SMAW and broke a shot in his direction. The Korean tipped forward, accidentally discharging the SMAW into a pile of ammunition, which detonated in a massive mushroom cloud, taking several Korean fighters with it.

There was frantic motion as the Koreans began to fall back. Evil quickly broke four shots, and the bolt of his SASS locked back, the magazine exhausted. There were woops sounding from the Special Forces company, then the comm net buzzed. “All units, cease fire. Cease fire.”

Evil removed his magazine and groped around on his chest for a new one. It was hard to retrieve one without making too much motion. What he wouldn’t give to have a tactical belt with all his magazines and gear on his waist.

Suddenly, there was motion in his scope.

Evil stopped reaching for a magazine and checked it out. “Contact by the skyscraper. Counting two, maybe three squads of IAI combatants packing heavy gear.”

The mercenaries were moving methodically, taking cover to prevent any damage incoming sniper fire would cause. One ducked up and peeked, his G36C assault rifle in his hands. Evil successfully grabbed a magazine from his vest and shoved it up the magazine well of his rifle, and slapped the bolt release.

“All units, open fire.”

Evil broke another shot.

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Random slammed his communications headset on the desk and swore. “I’m done here. Get me three Chinooks and four teams, pronto.”

“Yes sir!” Gunnery Sergeant Ellison yelled, turning and jogging out of the command center. Staff Sergeant Meyers and Master Sergeant Barret both glanced at each other.

“CIA just got word that Kim Jong Un may be in Pyongyang. Our vanguard convoy just hit mercenary resistance, and I want to get into the city before the bastard can slip through our fingers.” Random grabbed a phone and a communications officer answered from the other end. “Lieutenant Random, Spectre Division. Ops, immediately.”

Major Gray picked up the phone. “Lieutenant, unless our FOB is under attack or Kim Jong Un himself is in the battle zone, I don’t need to hear it.” She snapped. “What do you want?”

“CIA got intel from an agent. Un is in a bunker under their main army base right now. I need three Chinooks and six Spectre teams ready to go in thirty.”

“You’ll have them in fifteen.” Gray promised. “Ops out.”

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One thing was for sure; that flashbang had sure as hell given Soulless a wake-up call.

When he came to, he found the blurred figure of a man standing over him, a rifle shoved into his face. Slowly, Soulless interlaced his hands on top of his head. There was more movement, probably this guys friends sweeping the cave behind himt.

The man was yelling in what sounded like Russian to Souless’ muted hearing.. His vision was still returning, and the outline of a flash suppressor came into view in front of his eyes.

Then the last of Soulless’ hearing returned, and he heard the Russian clearly. “Pochemu ty zdes'! Kto ty!”

The Russian hauled him to his feet. Soulless noted the Russian flag in the form of a patch on the soldier’s chest. Another Russian had picked up Soulless’ MSR and removed the magazine from it, then unlocked and drew back the bolt. There was no round chambered.

“Klear!” The Russian holding a rifle on Soulless yelled. The AK-12 had lasers, a flash suppressor, and red dot, along with a banana magazine chock full of deadly 7.62x39 rounds.

Two more Russians came into the cave, lit by the dim light of Soulless’ heater. One of them leaned his AK up against the wall and removed his helmet, revealing crew cut blonde hair and green eyes that could cut stone.. The hair was more of a yellow color in the dim light than Soulless’ pale dyed hair.

One of the Russians came forward with Soulless’ MSR. The blonde haired Russian inspected it and leaned it up next to the AK. He muttered something to his counterpart, who nodded and took aim at Soulless.

“Iskat' yego!” The blonde Russian barked, and the original soldier began patting down Soulless, removing his spare 5.56 magazines, .338, and his 9mm ammunition. He also removed his combat knife from his left forearm, a throwing knife from his right boot, a flashbang in his left pocket, frag grenade from the right, and a blue smoke grenade from his right cargo pocket.

The second Russian grabbed Soulless’ M4A4 and handed it to the blonde guy. The Russian cycled the bolt. When a round failed to fly out of the action, he pulled the trigger. There was only the dull click of the firing pin.

The Russian searching Soulless finished and shouldered his AK-12, aiming it at Soulless along with the third guy. The second guy picked up the parts from the Glock 19 that was broken down and being cleaned. In a few swift motions the handgun was back together, and the slide was being cycled to spread the grease around.

The blonde Russian held up the M4A4. “An American weapon.” He stated in clear English. “What is an American doing packing assault equipment on Russian territory?”

“I was sent here by Mendosa as I already stated to your buddy here. An IAI convoy is passing through the valley below here, and my mission is to eliminate it.”

“Ah, Mendosa.” The Russian said. “I’ve heard of them, but I thought they were only allowed to be based out of Siberia, not operate within its borders.”

“We’re Spetsnaz.” The Russian replied quietly. “And I thought that the standard Mendosa arctic weapon was the AUG.”

“I have custom rifles for a reason. I grew up in Alaska and know what you have to put into a delicate rifle to make it work in the cold, and I’m also former U.S. Special Forces.” Soulless swallowed briefly, his mouth dry. “So it makes sense that I have the M4, and the Glock has been my longtime friend.”

“I see.” The Russian said. “I am Starshina Alexei, but my name will do just fine. Not my rank. I’m sure you understand if I don’t tell you my companion’s names.”

“Of course.” Soulless said. “I had a name a while ago, but then I ceased to exist as a U.S. citizen. Call me Soulless.”

Alexei extended a hand, and Soulless took it.

“There is a custom in my family. Not quite ‘enemy of my enemy,’ but it works. If you can help me, I will help you.” Alexei told him. “Do we have a deal?”

“Only if you tell me what you need.” Soulless said flatly.

Alexei just grinned.

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Evil tossed his SASS into the back seat of a Humvee and slammed the door shut. A Special Forces infantryman tossed him an M4A4, and he yanked back the charging handle. Rock and Titanium came over, and Dark slid down a slope, his M249 SAW clutched to his chest like a child’s stuffed toy.

“We’re going to be pushing through the IAI line to outflank their main firing positions. Our objective is to capture ammunition and weapons, along with establish an FOB. There’s an armored division rolling in soon to start sweeping through the city, so we have to be ready to receive them. Everyone know their jobs?”

Evil signaled to the team, and they all cycled the charging handles of their rifles, ready to go.

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The blizzard had mostly subsided. Reduced now to a light sprinkle of snow, and visibility was much clearer than it had been a couple hours earlier.

Soulless lay motionless, wedged in between a pair of rocks. His backpack was providing a reasonable rest for his MSR. The scope flaps were flipped up.

And, through the scope lenses, he could see the oncoming convoy.

Three IAI tanks, unidentifiable, probably custom designed and built, were rolling through the thick snowdrifts. Their white paintjob was scored in a couple places. Infantry were trudging through the snow almost like it was quicksand. Their G36C rifles were coated in ice and snow, along with their combat gear. One of the soldiers riding on the middle tank held a modernized Dragonuv SVD rifle with a scope attached. If he could get to cover and take up a suppressive position, he would be trouble.

Soulless keyed his microphone. “Alexei. One squad of four per tank. One squad in front, one moving between first and second tanks, last one between second and third tanks.”

“Copy.” Alexei commed back. “Wait for the go.”

Soulless clicked his mic. Below him, the Spetsnaz team was preparing an ambush. Explosive charges had been set up on a slope prior to the team finding Soulless, and they still planned to go through with their setup. Soulless was just an added bonus at this point. He wished it hadn’t turned out that way, but that was the way things were.

Three bursts of static came over the comm net, and then a section of mountainside on the slope across from Soulless exploded. Carefully laid charges detonated in rapid succession, and snow began to tumble down the slope. The snow began to accumulate, and suddenly, there was a full scale avalanche racing down the mountainside towards the convoy.

The front tank stopped as the driver panicked, and it clogged the rear tanks in the valley. Infantry were shouting and waving their arms, but the sniper of their group was scanning the mountainsides, his SVD in hand.

Soulless set his crosshairs and broke the shot. The sniper’s head snapped back, a spray of red blood fountaining in the air, and he pitched backwards off the tank and into the snow.

The IAI soldiers began to scramble. Some jumped off the tank and tried to escape the oncoming snow. Others kneeled and prepared for the impact. Some tried to use their tanks as cover. The rest were searching for where Soulless’ shot had come from. He smiled. They had little to no training in judging angles from sniper fire.

Then, like a wall, the snow hit the convoy. It had evolved into a full scale wave of snow and ice. The soldiers that had tried to use the tanks as cover were crushed as the vehicle was tipped over on top of them. A trio of soldiers had successfully escaped the snow, and were running up the slope directly towards the Spetsnaz.

Soulless cycled the bolt, and broke another shot. The .338 bullet punched through the first soldier’s chest and went through, keyholing and blowing a fist sized hole into the forehead of the second soldier. The first soldier, from the impact of the round, was sucked forward onto his face. The second IAI merc pitched backwards into his buddy.

The third guy shoved the body of the second soldier away, and immediately one of the Spetsnaz fired a burst of 7.62 rounds into the guy. He dropped like a stone.

Below them in the valley, some of the IAI soldiers were pulling themselves out of the snow. One of them had obviously heard the burst of AK-12 fire and aimed his G36C up the slope, but Soulless broke another shot. The round impacted on his chest, and the soldier staggered, clutching his chest. There was no spray of blood.

Soulless calmly cycled the bolt again, and shifted his crosshairs. Another shot broke, and the soldier’s head snapped back like the sniper’s had, and he pitched to the side.

The Spetsnaz opened up with full-auto fire. Bits of snow and ice were sent shooting in different directions as the bullets impacted. IAI troops fell like trees.

Soulless just kept picking his targets.

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“Very fine marksmanship my friend.” Alexei said as Soulless slid down the last of the mountainside. His backpack slid to a stop next to him. His MSR on his back, M4A4 in his hands. “I’ve never seen anyone able to score headshots like that.”

Soulless nodded at the Spetsnaz operative. “You and your men were pretty precise with those AKs of yours.”

Alexei smiled. Two of the three Spetsnaz men were picking their way through the tank wreckage and bodies. The third lay on the ground, facing up, motionless.

“You lost a man.” Soulless said pointedly.

“Indeed.”

“How?”

“Seems like a single bullet to the chest. Unsure if it was a sniper or a stray round fired when IAI managed to somewhat regroup.”

Soulless turned and looked up the slope. There was the position that the Spetsnaz had been dug in at, marked by where the operatives had broken part of their snow fortification to get down to the valley floor where Alexei and Soulless were standing now. He walked towards the pile of snow that had once been the enemy convoy.

“There is where your men were dug in.” He began, pointing his M4 up the slope. The Spetsnaz men nodded, and Alexei watched motionless. Staring through his holographic sight, he estimated the range. “About two hundred yards. I was at four hundred.”

Then, he turned to the carnage of the convoy. “When was your man shot?”

“When he was getting out of the fort.” One of the Spetsnaz said.

“That would explain the chest wound.” Soulless inspected the body, and then flipped the dead Spetsnaz over. “As you can see, there is no exit wound. That means the shooter was a good distance away.”

He said no more. Flicking his M4 to full auto, he let loose a half magazine of ammo at the desired point. The suppressed rifle spit the round silently. Snow flew up, along with some red spray. A scream sounded.

One of the Spetsnaz ran forward and reached into the snow, hauling out the sniper. An American Mk-12 rifle with a scope, suppressor, laser, and foregrip followed him in his sling. The sniper was dead long before the Spetsnaz pulled him out of the snow.

Soulless set his M4 down and grabbed the MK-12. The rifle was U.S. Navy issue. He checked the man over real quick. A Sig Sauer P226 was in a holster, along with a combat knife. “Tryhard Navy SEAL.” Soulless muttered.

He left the Spetsnaz to the body and took the Mk12. Turning to Alexei, he said “My job is done here. I need a helicopter.”

“I suppose you’ve paid off your debt to me by avenging my man.” Alexei said. “And I can do better than a helicopter.”

“Really?”

Alexei nodded. “A flight to North Korea. Mendosa is being inserted there.”

Articles written by @randomcitizen1, @Viva, @DarkTitan_, @Doges, @MattM1PVP, and @Purest_Builder of the Month
The Builder of the Month for April is @Charlie_0014 , for his awesome Realistic City Stores! His map focuses on stores that you might find near your neighborhood should you live in the United States. He took buildings that he knew and brought them to blocky life in a Minecraft Build map. Not only are these stellar buildings pleasingly accurate, but real images accompany them for comparison on his showcase thread. To go take a look at this build, head over to Minecraft Build and type /map 271899 in the chat.

In recognition of attaining builder of the month, Charlie_0014 will receive 3 additional build maps and a much coveted forums trophy. Congratulations!

Comment Giveaway
Every edition of Brawl News now comes with the chance to win a month of global ELITE. To enter, just leave any kind of comment below. The winner will be announced in next month's edition.

Comment Giveaway
Every edition of Brawl News now comes with the chance to win a month of global ELITE. To enter, just leave any kind of comment below. The winner will be announced in next month's edition.

"Trivia Question
Last month's question was: Put the question here?
The answer was which Brawler or Brawlers have the most forums trophies?. @sjuka_legogubbar answered it first and earned a forums trophy!"

Trivia QuestionLast month's question was: Put the question here?
The answer was which Brawler or Brawlers have the most forums trophies?. @sjuka_legogubbar answered it first and earned a forums trophy!